Tire-stitching machine.



4 SHEETS-SHEET l- 1220673232.- K'erdimnd Zfinuciei; 19% W W Patented Mar. 13, 1917 F. F. BRUCKER. TIRE STITCHING MACHINE. APPLICATION mm FEB. 4. Isle. 1,218,627.

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r. F. BRUCKER. TIRE smcmms mcmun APPLICATION FILED '[I 4 lflli Patented Mar. 13, 1917 4 HEET$$HEET L UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE. 1

FERDINAND rumors mwcxnn, or AKRON, omo, ASSIGNOR T rum MILLER alumna ooumuw, or Anson, omo, A conronunonor 01:10.

Specification of Letters'ratent.

TIBE-STI'ICHING MACHINE.

Patented Mar. 13, 191 '2.

Application filed February 4, 1916. Serial No. 76,170.

To all whom it may concern:

lle it known that I, FERDINAND F. BRUCKER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Akron, Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Tire- Stitching Machines, of which the following is a specification.

My present invention relates to improvements in. machines for sl'iapingtire fabric upon a revoluble core to formthc tire carcass or body. 111 devising the present machine I have had various objects in view, among which are the following:

First to provide a macl'iiue which will be of extreme simplicity and thereby capable of beingeconomically u-oduced and which will be durable and e lcient in action, and easily operated or controlled.

Second, I secure a construction in which the stitching or forming rolls will be positively guided to follow the contour of the core in shaping the fabric around the same, thus relieving the operator of the necessity of. manually pressing said rolls against the core, or the alternative of. relying wholly on the somewhat unsatisfactory action of springs or weights to secure such pressing action.

Third, to provide means whereby the relation of the framing rolls to the core may be adj ustcd to allow for the increasing thick ness of the material on the core as the successive layers are applied.

Fourth, to provide stitching rolls oper ating over the body of the core in such a draw the f abrfi c shape manner that they will radially of the core and into proper without liability of injury thereto.

Fifth, to provide an independent set of stitching rolls for shapng the fabric over the beads, thus avoiding the necessity of providing the somewhat complicated mecha nism necessary for varying the angle of the rolls when a single set of rolls is used for shaping the body of the carcass and also operating over or around the beads, and avoiding also any danger of the Workman using the apparatus with the rolls set. at an improper angle.

With these and other objects in view the invention includes the novel features of con- I struetion and arrangement and combination embodiment 0f of parts hereinafter described and particularly defined by my invention being illusthe appended claims, an

trated in the accompanying drawings in which;

Figure '1 is a plan view of said embodiinent. I

Fig. 2 is a side elevation ofthe same.

Fig. 3 is an end elevation.

Figs. .4, 5, 6 and 7 are detail views, showing the different positions assumed by the spinning rolls in relation to the core as the shaping of a layer of fabric progresses.

Referring by reference characters to these drawings the numeral 1 designates a frame sliipported conveniently on legs 2 and provided with guides preferably equipped with roller bearings 3 on which a carriage 4 is slidably mounted. vided on itslower side with a rack 5 with which meshes a pinion 6 fast on a transverse shaft 7 journaled in suitable bearings in the frame. Secured to an extendedend of this shaft is a hand wheel 8 by means of which the carriage may be propelled forward and backward radiallyof the core 9.

This core is rc n esentative of the form customarily used 'in rubber tire factories, and may be rotated by any means which, not forming any part of the present invention. is not shown herein.

Projecting upwardly from the forward edge of the carria re are a pair of posts 10 on which are pivetally mounted a pair of levers 11. I

The "carriage t also supports. in rear of said posts, a fork 12, within the arms, of which journaled a drum or cylinder 13 having suitable means, such as handle 14, by which it may' be rotated or oscillated.

This cylinder has cam guides adapted to cooperate with 'the rearwardly extended "arms 11. of the lovers 11, a convenient manner of effecting such cotiperation being to make the cam guides in the form of grooves 13 and provide the arms 11 with rollers 11 to travel in said grooves.

The arms 11 carry at their rotatable studs or at their upper ends with rigidly or integral brackets 20.

Arms 21 have their forward ends rigidly connected to said rock shafts and theinrear ends adapted to cooperate with fixed guides supported from the frame of the machine,

a convenient manner of effecting such cooperation being to provide the rear ends of the arms 21 with-lrollers 21 traveling in forward ends rock shafts 19 provided attached bolts cam slots or grooves 23 in plates 23 which are detachably secured to the frame of the machine. i

Brackets 25 are mounted to oscillate on the studs or rock shafts 19' and areresiliently or yield-ably connected to brackets 20,

which brackets are rigidly secured to rock shaft 19' by suitablemeans, such as 26 provided withfnuts 26' at their outer ends, rock washers '26, and compres-. sion. springs 27 encircling the' bolts between brackets and the inner washers.

Bracketsg form bearings for-stud shafts 28, which carry at their inner ends the stitcher disks or wheels 29 each of which,

for a purpose hereinafter more fully set forth, is preferably flat on one face and of a convex or approximately flat truncated cone shapeon the opposite faceor side 20.

which is connected to the studshaft.

The purpose of makin shown is toenable them to work approximately tangential to the surface of the core during a considerable portion of their movement radially of the core. r v

I have observed that the action. of .the fabric during the time it is "being shaped or formedabout the core is a' deforming action, and not a stitching action such as frequently described.

' The strips of friction fabric to be ap lied to the core are bias strips, thethrea s of which cross each other at right angles. The fabric'isapplied initially to the core under tensionwhich draws it down over the outer portion of the core. When thus drawn down the fabric is deformed by the longitudinal strain and the relation of the cross ing threads atthe periphery of the core'is distorted so, that instead of forming'squares as in the unapplied fabric, they form rhomboids, with the longest diameter extending circumferentially of the core. As the sides of the core are approached the fabric he's been less extended and I have observed that at the medium line of the core thethr'eads cross each other at approximately right angles. r For the fabric to f from this medium line inward it is obvious i that it must be circumferentially shortened 1 to an increasing degree a'sthe axis of the core is approached and this shortening can only takeplace by again altering the shape of the squares formed by the crossing threads to rhomboid form, but this time with the longest diameter of each rhomboid extending radially of the core, the elongation increasing as the inner edge of the core is approached. p I

. This radial elongation of the squares into rhomboids is effected by tension or strain applied to the fabric in a direction toward the axisof the core and I have found that the stitcher. -wheels or disks of substantially the shape 'with from the point where the fabric begins to .ment. Thereafter,

. causes the to follow the contour ofthe core and while disks with relation described, yet the face of greater part of this motion very nearly so, to the opposing face of the be applied smoothly.

at the forward ends of said allowing for any and also any slight wabble of the core upon the best results are secured by having the spinning disks or wheels act as nearly tan gential as practicable.

thereon substantially flat, as shown.

Returning now to the mechanism heretofore described, itwill be seen that when the 7 carriage is fully retracted the rollers on the rear ends of the arms 21lie in the rear parallel portions 24 of the guide slots 23", at which time the spinning wheels or rolls are fully retracted and occupy the position shown i i-Fig. 4, permitting the core to be conveniently put in position. The operator having fed the strip of tire material to the core and its tension-causing it to assume a position in which the fabric 'lies smoothly upon the outer periphery of the core about one-half way down over the curved sides thereof, the operator thereafter operates the hand wheel 8 to feed the carriage forward until the spinning wheels or disks contact the fabric on the core ,slightly hack leave the surface of the core, the parallel portions of the slots, permitting this move the operator continues toturn the hand wheel to propel the carriage forward and the rollers on therear end of the arm travel along the diverging portions of the slots, causing the spinning wheels 01 rolls to exert a tension on the fabric radially of the core but at the same time keeping 1t pressed against the core. In other words, the travel of the rollers on the rear ends of the arms 21 in the guide slots as the carriage progresses automatically working edge of the rolls or disks there is necessarily slight shift in the angle of the, face of the spinning rolls or to the plane of the core. due to the swinging moven'ient of the parts the disk during is tangential, or

core, as shown in Fig. 6. As the working edge of the disk approaches the inner flange or extension of the core indicated at 9" the rollers at the outer endsrof the arms encounter 'the elongated slots or portions 24" slots.

While as above stated, the movement of the rollers inv the slots causes the working. edge of the disks or rolls to follow the contour of'the core, the springs 27 permitthe pressure to. be yieldingly'applied, thereby irregularities .in the stock its supporting spider. As the successive plies'or layers of fabric are applied to the core, it will be obvious that the diameter of 1 0 lot the body upon which the disks act will be increased. To avoid the application of excessive pressure to these exterior layers of fabric 1 provide the drum or cylinder 13 with.its cam groovesoperating upon the armsll" of the lever so that by rotating this cylinder by the handle 14 through successive predetermined distances the studs 19 may be moved further apart. To hold the cylinder in its proper positions I provide a spring pin 18 engaging notches 18 in the periphery of the cylinder.

The stitching wheels or disks 29 and opcrating parts are not designed for shaping the fabric over the beads. To accomplish this function, I provide a second set of disks 50, preferably of a shape similar t wheels 29 and desirably mounted at the angle shown, so as to work at an acute angle 20to the inner face of the beads.

'lh'ss'e rolls are provided with stud shafts 51 journaled in the angularly turned portions of brackets 47. which are adjustably clamped in the split bearing sockets 45 of arms 45, of hell crank levers, which levers are pivoted at 44 in lugs or brackets 4.3 carried by slides 31. Arms 45* of the bell crank levers are acted upon by compression springs 48 encircling bolts 4!),

which are connected to the slides and pass through openingsin the arms 45", being provided with nuts and rock washers, as"

shown.

The slides 31 are movable in guides or 35 ways 30 extending transversely of the machine frcme and are provided with racks which mesh with opposite sides of a pinion 83 mounted on a-shaft 34 On this shaft 34- is a Second pinion 35, which meshes with a '40 gear or pinlon 38 fast on a shaft 37'jour- 'naled the main frame, which shaft is provided with a crank 39 connected by pitman 40 with a treadle 41.

Downward pressure on this foot lever 41 415 will rotate shaft 37 and through the train 5 of gears and racks above described, cause 7 the racks to be moved to bring .the stitching wheels or disks15O nearertogether to effect \the shaping of the fabric'around the bond bores, the degree of pressure being govcreed sprin 42 tends to hold the treadle nor mally elevated and the stitcher wheels nor- 5 *rnally separated, and to return said parts to normal position when the pressure on thetreadleis removed.

The" entire operation of the machine in building tires thereon ,may be briefly stated 'asrfollowsi I apply several layers of fabric to the core by: the use of the stitcher wheels 29 as hereinhefore described and then apply ajpair of 'bead cores, over which the remaining plies ia-re laid, In applying the layers by the p ressure of the foot ofthe opemu of fabric which overlay the beads, the fabric, after being laid on the tire, is stitched by the stitcher wheels 29 as already described, until said stitching wheels 29 reach the bead cores. When this point is reached the operator grasps the handle 14, and gradually pulls it backward, at the same time keeping the stitching wheels against the bead colfeS with slight pressure, by gradually moving handwheel 8 forward. Due to these movements, the fabric will be laid over the outside of the bead cores by the gradual separation of the stitchcr wheels 29, under the action of cam grooves 11" on arms '11 and the edges of the fabric 'will be turned in, toward the axis of the core. Pressure is then applied to foot treadle 41, bringing stitching wheels 5().into action where the stitching wheels 29 left off.

By continuing pressure on foot treadle 41, the fabric will be laid down to the inner surface of the head; after which, both sets of stitching wheels may be withdrawn.

The machine as above described is adapted to form tires of one cross sectional size only but of any diameter. This is however, no objection as tire factories manufacture many hundreds and, in fact, thousands of tires :1 day. Thus there is no necessity for having a machine adaptable for tires of different cross sectional dimensions, while by having a machine operating on only-a single size of tire, it may be carefully adjusted or designed to secure the best effect,

and not depend on the skill of the operator.

Such operator, by working entirely on one size of tire is free from the necessity of manually adjusting the movement of the main stitching rolls toaccord with varying sizes of tires as in a universal machine, and can make more rapid progress.

It is obvious that by the change of a few parts, such as cam plates and stitcher arms the machine may readily becha-nged to operate upon a tire of different cross sectional area."

Havin thus described my invention what I claim is:

1, A machine of the character described comprising a revoluble core upon which a tire maybe built, a pair of devices for form ing material about the core, means for causing relative movement of saitldm'ices and core in a direction radially of the core, and cam controlled means for causing such forming means to follow the contour of the core during such radial movement.

2. A machine of the character described comprising a revoluble core upon which a 'tire may be built, a pair of devices for-forming material about the core, means for cansing relative movement of said devices and core in a direction radially of the: core, and" cam controlled means for causing such form- 5. 3. A machine ofgthe chair" I com 'irising a revoinble "for ore forming niaterial'about-the'ji. a moving said devioeskradialll' ca ni controlled-means y said radial movement fo sa d vdevices to: follow-fthe ccn toiii'jof the -.cb!?e. v 4. A machili bf the': character described comprising'a may he built, a] material about-t e."cre',-i"neans for relative inovemen of.-'sa id-devices andc'ore "in a direction radially'of the core,' and cam controlled means :for causing shcl pfOtming means to followjth'e contour of'the pore during such radial; niovementyand I'neans for changing the relation ofsaid forming dc vices to said earn controlled means -sa ceseive plies'of material arehpplied to said core. H i 25 5. A inachine of, th v comprising a revolnble" core,- devices. for.

it of devices forfornii'ng Qform'ing material about the ,(r' i means for "moving said devices radially of the core. and "cam controlled means rendered, efl'ecti ve 80"b y .said radial movement for-causing said devices to follow-the contour of the'corc. arid means fol-changing the relation of se id. forming" devices to "said, vcam controlled .means' as the-successive layers of material are applied to-the core.

comprising a revcluble' core, devices. for forming material on the" core,.mcans for moving said devices radia llyof-the core, 40 cani c'ontl zoll'ed means rendered cfl'ecth-"e by said radial movement-for cansing saiddevices t0 follow'the'contonr of the core and s'p'ring means interposed lmtwecn-"said rain controlled means and said forin ngdevices. l

1 1A machine of..tlie character described comprising- .n revoliihle core, devices" "for forming 'inziterial on the-core, means, for" Ii inovin sa d dev ces-radially ofthe core-,cani

- eontrq led-means tendered effective-by said lio radial ment'foreausingjsaiddevices f taierl w nto'nr of thecore, and spring: in in V "d lmtWeen said eam -con 'd said forming devices, and, lied ,7 nc-ans fcr mod-i fying' lin controlled means.

the cha racter describedvo liible'core, a carr age mov- 'ringel. said ca n coda-allegiith. said cram] blecoreupon which a tire haracter desciilwd 6. A machine of the character dcscrihexl of'th'e core; a pair of arms piV- compi'isin -a ifevoluble core, a carriage movable radio, 1; (if the core, a pair of arms pivbtally snpported'jfrom said carriagc,-a pair Qiiforming deyicea resiliently connected to al fms and' Stationary cam guides enact- 0; A mflchi e of the character described comprisin arevoluble core, a carriage moviilile'itadiit ly of the,- 'core, a pair of levers flilcrurn' with said levers, forming devices 'operatively connected avithsaid, arms, staonv the carriage, arms pivotally tionai'y enacting with said arms. and a-dj'ngti g "means for positioning said 11.x him of the character described comprislnq a evolnble core, acarriagc movable .radia ly, ofthe core, a pair of levers -fnlcrumed on the carriage, arms pivot-ally connected with "said levers, forming devices yieldinglyconnected with said arms, and stationary 'can gnides enacting with said arms, and'adjustm'g means for positiol'ling said levers.

col-uprising a revoluble core, a carriage movl2. A machine of' the character described able radially of the core, a pair of levers fulcrumed on the carfiagc, arms pivotally connectcd'to said levers; forming dev1cc"s:op-

era tivcly connected \vi th said arms. stationary cam guides coactljng with said levers,

anda manually actuatedEcam for controlling the position of-said levere A 13. .-i-\ machine ofthe character described comprising a revoluble care, forming devices.-

ineans for producing relatit'e-movement of 'said devices, and said. core in a direction radially-pfthe core, cam'devices for causing said forming'devices to ifol'low the contour of the core during siich radial movement. and

mea'nsior modifying the action of said (am devi'ccsq v ,l=l. A machine ofthe character descrihcc comprisjiig a revoliiblecore, forming devices.

means for producin 'rlative movement of said devices and sai car iIi-a'di'rection r'a dially of 'th'e core; bani devices for causing said forming devioee to follow the; contour for theco're dnring-s'neh radial movemenh. and means for 'impartiii' it transverse separating movement to sai forming dei'ic'es'at. the termination of the advancing radial movement,

. 1}). A machine of the character-descril-icd' comprising a revolubl'e' corma carriage -ar'- ranged to move rect| l1nearly-m a. path radial devices supof the core a air'of forming I arranged to portcdfr'om 't e carriage an shape material-over the'body ofthe core 7:

a pair of .devices supported independently of the carriage and arranged to reciprocate in a plane perpendicular to the plane of the core.

.16.; A machine of the character described,

comprising a core, a carriage movable raios.

, dia-lly of the core, a pair of disk-shaped forming rolls supported from the carriage and converging forwardly at acute angles to theplane of the core, and a second pair of disk-shaped rollers supported independently of the carriage and converging rearwardly, and means for movingthe rolls of both pairs toward and from the plane of the core.

17. In a machine of the character described n revoluble core, a. carriage, movable radially of the core, forming devices carried thereby, slides supported independently of said carriage and movable transversely of the core, and forming devices supported from saidslides.

18. In a machine of the character described, 41 rtlvoluble core a carriage movable radially of the core, forming devices carried thereby, slides supported independently of said carriage and movable transversely of :the core, and rotary disk-shaped forming devices supported from said slidesand lying in forming disks rotatably supported from said arms.

20. A machine of the character described comprising a revoluble core, a carriage movable radially carried thereby slides movable transversely of the plane of movement of said carriage, spring pressed arms supported by said slides, brackets secured to said arms, and forming wheels of substantially disk-shape, each hav ing one side only rotatably connected with one of said brackets leaving the other face free and unobstructed.

FERDINAND FRANCIS BRUCKER.

of the core, forming devices 

